At twenty nine, psychologist Lauren Baxter has a successful counseling practice. Since becoming legally blind at fifteen, her world has been a blurry mess of colors. Her greatest fear is also her ultimate reality. One day that fuzzy realm will forever turn black. Refusing to let blindness define her, she builds a life for herself with her dog, Jack Sparrow, and best friend, Sunny Daye.

Lauren has no tolerance for pity or for Superman swooshing down and rescuing her. She is capable of saving herself just fine. That is until Gabe, the great smelling, former Marine, from Texas moves in next door. Her attraction to him is immediate and, unfortunately for her, mutual. When Laurenâs ex-husband shows up begging for another chance, she is confused and fragile. She also finds herself in the arms of her secretive neighbor. Little does she realize that her decision for a steamy roll in the hay with Gabe will suck her into his mysterious past, thrust her ex-husband back into her life, put her in the middle of a murder investigation, and place her life in danger.

Gabriel Briggs has the weight of the world on his shoulders. Short term flings are all he can afford for more reasons than one â reasons he never plans to share. Until he moves in next door to the beautiful, green eyed, feisty, Lauren. One night with her and heâs reconsidering promises he made almost a decade ago. When a woman from his past is murdered, his world is turned upside down. Secrets are revealed and innocent lives are threatened. Can Gabe win Laurenâs love and save her life before itâs too late?

Product Warnings: Contains a blind therapist who doesnât consider herself impaired; a meddling, erotic-novel-writing best friend; a hot ex-Marine with a shady past; and a loyal guide dog that howls âI love youâ and is probably the sanest one of the bunch.

Excerpt 1: Her chocolate German shepherd, Jack Sparrow, nudged her leg as soon as she approached the front door. After rubbing his neck, she grabbed hold of his harness and stepped outside.

A beautiful mix of greens and blues touched with red swirled around her. After several blinks, her eyes adjusted to the brightness. She pointed in the direction of the neighboring townhome.

âJack, Mrs. Rourkeâs door.â A pang of guilt ran through her. She and her former neighbor had been close until Lauren placed her in a nursing home. It was one of the hardest things sheâd ever done, but when an eighty-five-year-old woman sat in oneâs kitchen butt naked talking about the weather, it left few options.

Jack tried to warn her but she ignored him and sent the poor dog to the backyard. She cringed at the memory of Mrs. Rourkeâs bare skin under her hands when she hugged the old woman; it was one she wouldnât soon forget. Since the episode, Lauren made a concerted effort to pay better attention to her guide dogâs whimpers and barks.

Together they made their way across the lawn. Once at the door, Jack sat down and waited for her to do the rest. Taking a deep gulp of fresh Denver air, she held it for a few seconds before slowly releasing.

Calm and patient.

Thatâs the person I am and thatâs the person heâll see.

Lauren felt the wall for the doorbell and pressed the plastic control. A few dozen doorbell presses later, realization hit. If heâs banging away in there, howâs he going to hear the doorbell? She slammed her knuckles into the wood for what seemed like an eternity but still no response.

Okay, time for Plan B. Since her home connected to the demolition manâs, they shared a common backyard.

âJack. Home.â

He rose, maneuvering them back. Together, they marched into their townhouse, through the living room, and out the backdoor. Jack guided them across the lawn, straight to the offenderâs patio. She banged her knuckles against the glass pane. After they were raw and felt like they were on fire, his hammering stopped. A few minutes later, she heard the sound of plastic blinds shifting. Lauren plastered on her biggest smile and waved. Metal slid against wood and the door opened.

The faint smell of sandalwood mixed with cedar filled her lungs. It was the same scent sheâd gotten whiffs of the past four weeks since heâd moved in.

âCan I help you?â His soft Southern drawl flowed through her skin, warming her face. The image of a shirtless man in a cowboy hat and jeans leaning against the doorjamb popped into her head. For a moment, she forgot why sheâd come.

âUmm, hi, Iâm Lauren.â

âHello, Lauren.â The amusement in his voice pulled her out of her cowboy fantasy.

Jack nudged her leg, reminding her they were there on business, not to drool. âI live in the townhouse next to yours.â

âI see you two jogging the park in the evenings.â From the angle of his voice, he sounded about six feet tall. She could hear the smile in his words. When he shifted his weight, the doorjamb squeaked. She wondered if his shoulder leaned against it, like the half-naked cowboy in her head.

Thank God I changed out of my onesie.

âThey have some nice jogging trails.â Her voice came out husky and she caught herself playing with her hair when she responded.

What the hell?

Lauren dropped her arm and grabbed a fistful of her jeans to curb her need to twirl, flick or touch her hairâor him for that matter.

âI maht have to try them out.â

Maht? Yup, definitely a country boy. Images of tight jeans and cowboy hats filled her thoughts.

He cleared his throat. âWould you like to come in?â

Her heart thudded and her palms moistened at the prospect.

Yesâ¦

âNo, I wanted to ask a favor.â

âA favor?â The evil man continued his flirty tone, successfully melting her organs. âWhat kind ofâ¦favor?â The way he said the word had her brain exploring all the inappropriate things he could do with herâfor her.

Stop it! You are stronger than this. Focus.

Lauren cleared her throat for the hundredth time. âI work from home and spend most of the day on the phone with clients.â

He chuckled. âAhh. So putting in crown molding isnât helpful, is it?â

Her stomach fluttered.

Speechless, she smiled and shook her head.

âWell, what time are you finished with work?â

âFive, tonight. But it varies.â

âSo if I work on the molding after fiveâ¦â

âIâll be very grateful,â Lauren finished.

âHow about giving me your number so next time I have a project I can find out your schedule before I start?â

Wait? Was that a line or sarcasm? He canât be hitting on me.

No. It made total sense he needed her number. After all, sometimes she did have evening clients. âOkay, you want to get a pen?â

âIâll remember.â

Laurenâs face heated.

Yup, heâs flirting.

She wiped her clammy palm on Jackâs back and rattled off the digits.

âIâm Gabe, by the way.â

âHi, Gabe, and thank you.â She turned to rush away before she agreed to more than her phone number.

âLauren?â

Damn.

âSince youâre done with work at five, how would you like to go to dinner with me tonight?ââ

Excerpt 2: The banging and Jackâs barking grew louder. Lauren ran her hands through her hair and made her way down the stairs with Sunny close behind.

At the door, her best friend leaned over her and peeked through the blinds.

âOh Sweet Baby Jesus, whoâs that?â she whispered.

Lauren pushed her away and blocked the entrance with her body. âIf I could see, Iâd tell you.â

âItâs a man. Open the door,â she ordered and tried to pull Laurenâs hand from the knob.

âNo! We donât know who he is,â she hissed.

âLauren, itâs Gabe.â The way her name sounded in the baritone voice of his had her stomach doing the funny flipping thing again like it did yesterday in the backyard.

Boney arms wrapped tight around her waist, lifting off the ground and planting her a few feet away from the entrance. Disoriented, Lauren was still figuring out which direction she was facing when the door rattled and opened.

âHey,â Sunny said in her most seductive tone. After rolling her eyes, Lauren walked toward her friendâs voice.

âHi,â Gabe cleared his throat. âIâm sorry, I was looking for Lauren.â

âIâm right here.â

âSorry to bother you two. Like I said, I heard screamingâ¦â

âSo sorry; we were having a disagreement,â she answered before Sunny got a chance to give her interpretation of events.

âRule number one: When a man who looks like him walks up in nothing but hard muscles and a thin pair of boxers, you invite him in. Rule number two: Keep rocking those low-cut tank tops and short biker shorts, âcause he couldnât keep his eyes off you.â

Excerpt 3

âIâm sorry, maâam. I canât help you,â the cabbie said.

Gabe put the last of the supplies into the large metal toolbox and padlocked the lid.

âHeâs a guide dog. Isnât it against the law for you to refuse services because of him?â Lauren asked.

He bit back his urge to help.

For him, the girl spelled trouble.

T.

R.

O.

U.

âThe sign right there says no animals.â The driver pointed to the backseat window.

B.

L.

E.

She grinned. âAnd if I wasnât blind, Iâm sure I would have seen it.â

Gabe chuckled. He loved her fake smile. Leaning against the truck, he watched the performance.

âIâm sorry, I didnâtâI mean, you donât look blind.â

Still grinning, she cleared her throat and pulled on the dogâs harness. âI am. Which is why I need my guide dog. He goes everywhere with me.â

The beast raised its ears and looked at Gabe. He averted his eyes, pulled off his baseball cap and tucked it into his jean pocket. Her monster of a pet was making him feel guilty as hell.

âIâm sorry, but Iâm allergic to animals. He canât come in my taxi.â

âI can pay you extra for your troubles. The place is a few blocks after the highway. It would only be ten minutes of your time.â

âLook, maâam. Itâs not going to happen. If you want, Iâll call another car to pick you up.â

After a long pause, she shook her head and bit her lip. âNo, itâs fine. I understand. Thank you.â

Gabe gripped the truck to make sure his legs didnât get any crazy ideas.

This is not my problem. Maybe if he said it enough times, heâd believe it.

âCome on, Jack. Itâs time for Plan B,â she said and grabbed the dogâs holster.

Plan what?

Stunned, he watched the two stroll down the road. She said the place was a few blocks after the highway. Which meant theyâd be walking alongside one of the busiest boulevards in Denver for a few yards before sheâd ever reach the interstate. He looked at his watch. Four fifty, on a Friday afternoon. The two would be smack dab in front of the I25 overpass during rush hour trafficâa dangerous situation for anyone, much less a blind woman.

She wouldnât, would she?

When Lauren got to the end of the street and turned left, he cursed under his breath.

Yeah, she would.

Excerpt 4

Gabe stayed on his knees with the kid wrapped around his neck. The two men stared each other down.

When the dog yodeled his response, Evan turned his head. The kidâs eyes doubled in size.

Lauren smiled. âDogs canât talk, right? And they canât. But sometimes they can make noises that sound like theyâre talking. And Jackâs a special dog. Heâs trained to smell when people need help. Like me. I need his help a lot because Iâm blind.â

âYou are?â Now Evan had turned completely around and peered into her face.

âYup, I am. Jackâs my guide dog. He helps me get places and do things.â

âWow.â

Both Evan and Gabe gazed at Lauren with looks of awe on their faces.

She smiled and kissed the dogâs neck. âHe is wow. But what makes him even more wower is he can tell youâre a little scared and he wants to help you.â

âHe does?â

âYup. What he wants to do is to give you a kiss and let you hug him so youâll feel better. I do it all the time with him when Iâm scared. If youâre okay with trying, why donât you give him your hand and see if it helps?â

She shrugged. âYouâre obviously capable of a lot more than I realized but no, I donât think you will.â She got up from her spot. âHeâll come home when heâs ready to, or send him over when you guys are done, whichever happens first.âwhichever happens first.â

From daring escapes by tough women to chivalrous men swooping in to save the day, the creativity switch to Kishan Paulâs brain is always in the âonâ position. If daydreaming stories were a college course, Kish would have graduated with honors.

Mother of two beautiful children, she has been married to her best friend for over seventeen years. With the help of supportive family and friends, she balances her family, a thriving counseling practice, and writing without sinking into insanity.

Her novella, Taking the Plunge, is currently available in the Love Least Expected Anthology on Amazon.